Love Shot!
by Kizuna the Bonded
Summary: A collection of short stories. Romance abounds in Namimori, and mafiosi finds themselves under Cupid's mercy. Some foul language and some sexual innuendo.


**Reflection**

**Pairing: Yamamoto X OC**

**Note: Tsubame means "swallow" in Japanese. Tsubame's nickname, Maou, can be translated to mean "demon."**

**This story takes place around the time Yamamoto is recruited by Reborn to be in Tsuna's family, which explains why the main character finds him normal. This is the first in a series of one shots I started a year ago, but never got around to posting or finishing. As I'm currently fed-up with Moon Guardian, I've put that series on a brief hiatus and continuing this one. There are ten so far, but I'll be updating about once a week so I can edit them. Enjoy!**

~*~*~

Sagara Tsubame hated Yamamoto Takeshi passionately. As manager of the baseball team, her hatred was a problem, but she couldn't help it. He always smiled and laughed, no matter what happened. Tsubame had never seen Yamamoto sad or angry or angsty or anything other than cheerful.

But the main reason why Tsubame hated Yamamoto was because he was normal. He loved baseball, got average grades, and his father owned a sushi restaurant. Yamamoto had the normality that Tsubame longed for, but would never get. As the heir to the Sagara yakuza syndicate, Tsubame had been raised to be aloof and unapproachable. However, her love and knowledge of baseball soon earned her the spot of manager of the baseball team.

Tsubame watched in disgust as each of Yamamoto's hits missed the home run target in the batting cage. She shut off the pitching machine and stormed over to Yamamoto. "What the hell is your problem, Yamamoto?" she hissed, smacking him with her clipboard. "Your batting average has gone way down this week."

Yamamoto grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Tsubame-san!" he said cheerfully. "It's just that there's a lot on my mind and—"

Tsubame's left eye began to twitch in annoyance. Why was this guy always so cheerful? She was always so rude, and yet he was always a gentleman and treated her kindly. Suddenly, something squeezed her heart. Was Yamamoto in love with someone? Feverishly, Tsubame began to think of ways to get her revenge on the girl when she stopped herself. Reminding herself that the feelings she felt were hate, Tsubame yelled, "I don't care! Keep your personal life out of baseball!" She gave him her worst glare, her yellow, catlike eyes penetrating him. "The last thing we need is for the best hitter on the team getting dragged down. Get your act together!"

The other team members had gathered around the batting cage to watch Tsubame chewing out Yamamoto. Finally, a brave third year spoke up. "Stop jumping on Yamamoto's case," he said, wiping sweat from his face. "He's trying his best. Any time he does even one thing wrong, you start screaming at the poor guy, Maou. Leave him alone."

The other boys started laughing at the nickname they had given Maou. Tsubame's head hung, her long, bleach blond hair covering her eyes. Seeming to take this as a sign of defeat, the boys cried, "The monster has fallen!" and began cheering loudly.

Out of the ruckus came a small, quiet voice. "Don't ever call me that," Tsubame said, her head still hanging. The boys' cheers began to die and a chill seemed to enter the air. Tsubame's head jerked up, a frightening look on her face. "DON'T EVER CALL ME BY THAT NAME AGAIN, YOU ASSES! I'LL FUCKIN' KILL YOU!!!" she screeched, causing the boys to run off to the dressing room to escape her wrath.

However, Yamamoto stayed behind. Lightly touching Tsubame's shoulder, he whispered, "Are you okay?"

Tsubame didn't turn around. "Go away. Go back home and practice. There's a big game coming up." Her voice was cold and distant.

Retracting his hand, Yamamoto turned to leave. Tsubame heard his footsteps fade away and collapsed to the ground, her face buried in her knees. Sobbing noisily, Tsubame let all of the feelings she had bottled up for so long pour out in the form of tears. Anger at her family, anger at her peers, hurt from getting cruel nicknames, desperation for attention, loneliness from being an outcast, and…The one feeling she couldn't describe came pouring out as well, but in the form of words.

"Love…I love him. I…I…I love Yamamoto," she hiccupped to herself, wiping her nose on her knees. The feeling she had mistaken for hate had finally revealed its true form, love. The tightness in her chest of seeing him smile so warmly at her wasn't hate. It was love, pure and warm. Desperately clutching the feeling to warm her iciness, Tsubame saw a reflection of herself: not of a yanki trying to distance herself from others, but of a smiling girl, her aura bright and warm instead of dark and chilly. As her inner eye watched the other Tsubame, Yamamoto appeared next to the reflection, a smile on his face as he embraced her.

Tsubame sobbed even louder. Yamamoto could only love that smiling reflection, the part of herself that she could never let anyone see, the part of her that longed to be set free. But now he was gone, on his way home to see his warmly smiling father, who would welcome him and listen to him talk about his demon team manager…

Falling backwards, Tsubame stared at the sky through a veil of tears. To her, the blue of the sky had become melded with the white of the clouds, showing her the uncertain future she faced as a yakuza boss. Choking down more tears, Tsubame curled into a ball, shaking with the force of her sobs. It was nearing night, and the air of Namimori was becoming cold. Realizing that her sweater wouldn't protect her from the cold, Tsubame shakily tried to get up, but her knees buckled.

"Damn it!" she screamed, punching the ground. Ever since she had met Yamamoto, the walls she had built around herself had slowly come crashing down, weakening her. Tsubame hated weakness. Sobbing again, Tsubame once again struggled to get up. Her knees buckled, but someone caught her before she hit the ground.

"Tsubame-san?" Yamamoto asked, looking at Tsubame with concern etched on his face. "Are you alright? I heard you crying and came to see what was happening."

Having regained her balance and wiped her face hastily with her sleeve, Tsubame pushed Yamamoto away. "I'm fine," she lied. "Go home."

For a split second, Tsubame thought that he was going to leave. Turning to see if he had left, she ran smack into his hug. The feeling of an embrace was something Tsubame had never felt in her life. As Yamamoto held her close to him, his body heat warming her, Tsubame felt the last of her walls come crumbling down. She began to cry again, burying her face in his chest. Her hands gripped his back, her fingers twisting into the fabric of his sweater. Yamamoto held the crying girl tightly, rubbing her back.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, her tears dampening Yamamoto's sweater and the shirt beneath it. "I've been rude and cold and distant, but I didn't know what to do. I just…I just…" She broke down.

"You don't have to apologize," Yamamoto crooned, kissing the top of her head. "It's okay, I forgive you for everything."

Pushing away from him, Tsubame looked into Yamamoto's warm brown eyes and yelled, "I LOVE YOU, YAMAMOTO!" There was silence as Yamamoto blinked, taken aback. Regretting her outburst, fresh tears sprung to Tsubame's eyes, and she began to run off.

Yamamoto, however, was not going to let her escape. Grabbing her hand, Yamamoto tugged Tsubame back to him, twisted his fingers into her hair, and kissed her. Tsubame's eyes were ready to pop out of her skull as his lips pressed against hers. But soon, she relaxed and closed her eyes, returning the kiss. They broke apart, a broad smile on Yamamoto's face. "I've always wanted to do that," he said as he looked at a breathless Tsubame.

Tsubame's cheeks began to burn as blood rushed to them. "W-what?" she stammered, not used to being utterly speechless.

Yamamoto smiled brightly at Tsubame, taking in the messy glory of her ruffled hair and her slightly askew clothes.

"You didn't notice? I thought it was clear." Yamamoto bent down to kiss Tsubame again. "I love you, Tsubame-san."


End file.
